The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
New tool to help auctioneers with property sale delays
A NEW tool to help auctioneers sell properties faster by cutting down on legal delays has been launched by local solicitor Colm Kelly.
“The average time to sell a property in County Kerry is about five and a half months and that is way too long,” Mr Kelly said.
Speaking at an event organised by his firm in The Brehon, Killarney, held exclusively for auctioneers, the Killorglin solicitor said there are constant problems in selling a property such as boundary issues, planning breaches and access difficulties.
“All of these are having a serious drag on the time it takes to sell a house in County Kerry.
“In the UK the average time to sell a house is three months. That is not happening here,” he added.
Launching his new service, the ‘sales audit service’, Mr Kelly said it will help auctioneers to encourage their clients to take the steps needed to put their legal house in order before it goes on the market.
“When someone is selling a house they make sure it is well presented, they paint the property, clear out the patio of weeds and freshen it up a bit. But they never think of giving their legal title a spruce up.
“However, up to one third of all property sales are falling through due to legal hiccups” he said, adding: “Auctioneers know this, and they are crying out for some way that their clients can have a title pack ready before their property goes on the market”.
Also speaking at the event was property economist Dr Ronan Lyons, The Irish independent columnist who is also author of the Daft.ie report.
“What the country needs is more apartments and not more houses” he said.
“There are plenty of family homes but traditional families are not living in them. You will find all over the country family homes lived in by groups of students or other people sharing.
“I can see the sense of this new service launched today as delays in property sales, clogs up the system and means that there is less housing for everyone,” he added.